Effective demand for climate-smart adaptation: a case of solar technologies for cocoa irrigation in Ghana

Given the generally low adoption of early climate change response technologies among tree crop producers in sub-Saharan Africa, stakeholders interested in the commercialization or scaling of such technologies will require empirical evidence of their market prospects. Using a double-bounded contingent valuation approach, the study evaluated the willingness and ability of 523 Ghanaian producers to invest in solar-powered irrigation pumps (SPIPs) for cocoa irrigation. The sample was split into three segments based on farm size: resource-poor, resource-limited, and resource-rich. Our results show that effective demand increased across the resource segments, with resource-endowed farmers more likely to demand SPIPs than resource-limited or resource-poor farmers. Also, while willingness to invest (WTI) depended on resourcefulness (land), farmers’ ability to invest was directly related to their resource (income class) endowment. We found that WTI across the resource segments was positively influenced by income, education, livestock ownership, credit, and extension services and negatively affected by household size and age of cocoa trees. Among others, we propose that promotional strategies for SPIPs should incorporate well-planned initiatives for income diversification and microcredit services to improve the financial position of the resource-poor and limited segment to encourage the adoption of these technologies

The place of social transformation analysis in vulnerability assessment for climate adaptation planning in Upper West Region, Ghana: A review synthesis

Abstract Climate vulnerability could be influenced by transforming demographic, technological, cultural, political and economic factors, which cuts across global, regional, national and local scales. Such social transformations result in positive and negative outcomes, with implications for the adaptive capacities of resource‐poor households, especially those headed by women. However, these transformations are usually not integrated in climate vulnerability assessments. Based on insights from a stakeholders’ brainstorming workshop and the synthesis of information from traditional literature review, this paper contributes to better understanding of the intersections of social transformation with climate vulnerabilities in the Upper West Region of Ghana. The review indicates that the region is experiencing social transformation triggered by technological, demographic and cultural factors, with implications for climate resilience building. For example, compared to the last decade, there is now an increased use of mobile phones, resulting in improved access to e‐extension and climate‐smart agriculture services. At the same time, an emerging trend of land commodification is driving poor households to sell or lease farming lands. Within the context of these transformations, climate vulnerability is still assessed through approaches that mainly focus on a ‘static’ view of the extent of exposure to climate hazards and their impacts on rural livelihoods. A social transformation analysis that promotes a systematic investigation of the transforming factors is proposed as an effective approach for vulnerability assessment in climate adaptation planning. This approach provides critical reflections on, and sustainable resilience interventions for addressing both changing biophysical and social vulnerabilities of rural communities

Embedding research for innovation to meet societal needs in national research systems : Experiences from Ghana

The experiences synthesised in this article indicate how significant effects in two agricultural domains have been achieved by creating pathways for inter-dependent socio-technical and institutional changes, at a range of levels of action, governance and policy-making. The synthesis emphasizes the importance of co-learning, experimentation, and critical reflection among a wide network of 'champions' of transformational change on behalf of smallholder farmers and processors. It shows that innovation processes may involve actors along entire value chains, industry leaders at national level, or local level actors seeking to widen the space for change beyond their immediate circle of direct influence. While the research and development initiatives of the domains are shown to have been critical in identifying the constraints and opportunities of smallholders, and also to the effects documented, this was largely because the research effort converged around empirically grounded problems and opportunities identified. The information sought, and the solutions found useful, were determined by the members of innovation platforms that drove the processes of change.</p

An innovation platform for institutional change in Ghana's cocoa sector

Cocoa is a major source of employment, smallholder farmers' incomes, and export revenue in Ghana. However, by 2010 institutional constraints throughout the value chain were failing to sustain bean quality and cocoa production. A national-level innovation platform, comprising key public and private actors in the cocoa sector, was established in 2010 to analyse and act to address this concern. The members' initial inquiries revealed that: farmers indirectly were paying for the national mass spraying and Hi-Tech input programmes, both provided free at the point of delivery. As the largest components in the cost structure, these programmes to a large extent accounted for the low price paid to farmers for their beans; a volatile exchange rate regime meant that often the prevailing rate was not equal to its equilibrium level; policies that heavily taxed cocoa were destroying farmers' expectation of long-term profitability. This paper draws on data recorded from the beginning 2009 to end 2013 by means of theory-guided process tracing (TGPT), to show how the platform contributed to increased prices for farmers, to subsequent reform of the input supply arrangements, and to changes to the mass spraying programme. The key causal mechanisms identified are policy learning and progressive amendment of existing institutions. The paper concludes by drawing lessons for the role of an innovation platform

An innovation platform for institutional change in Ghana's cocoa sector

Cocoa is a major source of employment, smallholder farmers' incomes, and export revenue in Ghana. However, by 2010 institutional constraints throughout the value chain were failing to sustain bean quality and cocoa production. A national-level innovation platform, comprising key public and private actors in the cocoa sector, was established in 2010 to analyse and act to address this concern. The members' initial inquiries revealed that: farmers indirectly were paying for the national mass spraying and Hi-Tech input programmes, both provided free at the point of delivery. As the largest components in the cost structure, these programmes to a large extent accounted for the low price paid to farmers for their beans; a volatile exchange rate regime meant that often the prevailing rate was not equal to its equilibrium level; policies that heavily taxed cocoa were destroying farmers' expectation of long-term profitability. This paper draws on data recorded from the beginning 2009 to end 2013 by means of theory-guided process tracing (TGPT), to show how the platform contributed to increased prices for farmers, to subsequent reform of the input supply arrangements, and to changes to the mass spraying programme. The key causal mechanisms identified are policy learning and progressive amendment of existing institutions. The paper concludes by drawing lessons for the role of an innovation platform